Grade One Humour

Guess what I just found stuck to my back??? As you can see, they're learning lots this year and putting their education to good use!!!

this love note brought to you by Sweetie....

1st Recital

Lovey had her first violin recital today and played with 2 other girls (aged 8 & 12 I think). They're all beginners but you could tell the older girls had more control over their bowing. Being much younger than the other 2 didn't slow down our girl though! She was able to keep on track with them and from what I could tell, she never missed a note!

All week long she's been asking about the recital and has been counting down the days. She was very excited for it to finally be here!

Great job Lovey, we're all proud of you!

O Christmas Tree!!!!!!

We had our tree trimming party tonight! The girls had a birthday party in the afternoon so while they were gone, Murray & I picked up a tree & set it up downstairs. Murray went for a run and I started throwing on some lights & getting snacks ready. I ran into a small snafu when I was adjusting the tilt of the tree though. We usually tie a string from the trunk onto a screw in the wall to make sure it doesn't topple over. As I was adjusting, the screw came OUT! So I get one leg hooked around a branch while trying to keep the string in one hand and get the screw back in with the other. I can't let go to search for the screwdriver or the tree will go and the base FULL of water will go everywhere and no one's around to call for help! I used my Mumma magic & got the screw in well enough to hold the weight of the tree while I ran for the screwdriver and got hat tightened up. Ahhh the drama, excitement and danger of the holidays!

I laid out quite a spread and everything went over pretty well. Only Honey had a complaint and it was that she didn't like the cherries in the middle of the chocolates! I tried to push her onto the Hershey kisses instead but she liked the chocolate & the filling of the other, just not the actual cherry part! Lovey had no such qualms about any of her chocolate!

Super cool Christmas tree lights photo!

the UNTHINKABLE!!!!!!!!

Ugh! Sweetie forgot Bunny at Grammie & Grandad's on Sunday and will have to wait til Friday to get her back. It was quite traumatic last night at bedtime as she wailed and moaned over the loneliness & inability to sleep without her precious companion.

Today she phoned to check on Bunny & Grandad assured her he'd be taking good care of Bunny while Grammie's at work. He even took a picture to show that she was cozy & comfy in Sweetie's absence and emailed it to her right away.

Sweetie was thrilled to see Bunny & hear that she was getting treated properly. She sent Grandad this reply: (well, she dictated and I typed)

Grandad, you are doing a great job, thanks for bunny-sitting for me. I'm glad Bunny is safe and having a good time. Bunny looks awesome in the picture and she also looks cozy too.

Only 4 more sleeps until Bunny comes back! Keep up the good work! Can you please take care of Bunny at bedtime? or give her a hug before going to bed please. Bye!

Kisses & hugs,

Love

Sweetie

Photo Fun!

and by that I mean torturous session trying to get my OWN family photo for the Christmas card! I put in lots of hours getting nice photos for other families, is it wrong to want one of my own???? Is that too much to ask?????

I bribed the girls with letting them have Christmas present early and they were pretty excited about that and very willing to put the new dresses on right away! The standing and posing part was more fun for some than others though!

Luckily I did end up with some stuff I could use and have lots of lovely out takes to share later!

Snow Buddies

The girls next door came over after school today and since it was really nice out I "convinced" them to go outdoors to play once homework was finished. It took some doing but they went and then didn't want to come back in! They got Murphy to help them sniff out the witch they've been hunting for since June. Clues just keep turning up around here! Then Murphy got bored of that game and sauntered on over next door, and then chased a cat over to the next house down.... but we got him back! and that was his little adventure for the day!

Some guy backed into me a few months ago and we finally got the insurance company's go ahead to get our bodywork done at the other guys' expense so this is what we're driving for a day or so. I always wanted a Jeep!!!!

Party On!

We had the family party for the multiples club on the weekend. There were bouncy castles, face painting, snacks galore, games, colouring and a visit from Santa! Everyone had a great time! Well, n not everyone loved Santa but maybe next year!

When Sweetie heard Santa had arrived she ran into the kitchen, ducked down behind the counter and said "I don't want to go OUT there!" with wide eyes and trembling lips. I told her that was fine but she didn't need to hide! Did she think Santa was going to hunt her down???

Hockey Hurts

Murray had a run in with a goon at a recent game. While he had the puck, the other guy came out of nowhere and blindsided him and checked him into the boards. Despite his pads, the impact broke the skin and Murray hit the ice, unable to get up for a minute. There isn't supposed to be any checking, it's a Christian hockey league!!! This guy took a good run and came in hard and fast. The offender got kicked out but we don't know how long.

The girls were being loud the next morning so I asked them to be extra quiet as the pain had kept Murray awake most of the night and I wanted him to get some rest). They were quite upset and decided to make something for him. He woke up to them hanging this on the wall & it brightened his day considerably!

Drama & Hysterics

(actual serving on a salad plate)

Oh THIS is the life! Wild children, revolts, drama, tears and then a little more drama to top it off. I made a casserole for supper last night, Santa Fe Chicken. It has rice, black beans, cream of chicken soup and some cilantro mixed together. Then you throw some chicken breasts on top, dab a bit of salsa on each piece of chicken and then sprinkle on some cheese. The craziest thing in there is the cilantro and really it's just glorified parsley!!!!!!!! I thought I had it made when I remembered this dish. They eat nachos all the time, take out the chips, insert rice, BINGO! You know what they say, if you want to make God laugh, tell Him you've got a plan. Well, I'm sure He got some entertainment last night.

I put the serving dish on the table. We've found that if they get to pick their own portions and serve themselves, things seem to run smoother. If they don't take anything, no dessert and that means more of everything for us! So, I put the casserole dish on the table. The cheese has melted nicely, it smells awesome and my mouth is watering!!! Sweetie & Honey looked at it and the sight was enough to move them to tears. and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Seriously, it was so awful that Murray & I couldn't help laughing. They could hardly sit up they were putting so much effort into the crying. Surprisingly, Lovey scooped up a big plate for herself and just ate and ate. Her only question was "how many beans do I have to eat?" and then went back to her meal. I tried pointing out to the resistance effort that EVEN Lovey liked it and she hates everything, so it must be alright!!!!!!! Nope, more hysterics. We gave up and moved on and let them have their pity party but it was hard to ignore, let me tell ya! Eventually Honey caved and had a bite. When she didn't immediately succumb to the hazardous materials we like to call supper around here, she realized it was fine and ate the rest without a fuss.

Sweetie however, had her heels dug in nice & firm. I told her she had to have one bite ( see picture with dessert fork, that's the unreasonable demand). Murray decided to go head to head with her and told her she'd sit in her chair until she ate the microscopic piece. Her sorrow was on a roll and unstoppable. She tried to leave and he made her come back and then she realized he meant it. She'd be sitting there til bedtime. Hmmmmm. Not so cool. She tried to talk her way out of it but I shut her down and refused to engage in any negotiations. I started cleaning up the kitchen, everyone was done, dessert was over and I wasn't waiting on her (I didn't actually have much hope that this manoeuvre would be succesful. After some Hollywood worthy grimacing, she managed to eat the whole morsel.

Score one for Daddy! but I'm sure she'll get her revenge!!!!!!!!!

Lovey's Report Card

and last but not least, here's the scoop on Lovey. Apparently there is a body snatching exchange that occurs daily sometime after she gets on the bus and enters the school. During this process, she is transformed into a shy, quiet girl whom we have NEVER laid eyes on at home. The rest of the report we can confirm is absolutely her! :)))

Honey's report card was sent out early as her teacher was going to be absent this week when they normally give them out. That's why we had hers up earlier than the others. Sorry to leave you hanging. I know there were many sleepless nights as you waited for the rest!

Sweetie's Report Card

Another great report!!! Woot woot!! Click on the report to see a larger version, cuz you've got to read this to believe us later when we're bragging up these kids!!

Last night for family movie night we had several stops and starts as the tv screen gradually reduced it's viewing area. We turned the tv off & back on and usually that worked to bring the full picture back but it was getting quite annoying. Then a little over halfway through, there was no resuscitating it anymore. Our "reboot" method was having no effect, in fact, we couldn't even get our 1 inch horizontal viewing bar. I realized this when I asked Murray if was going to turn it back on and he said "it IS on!". We had to hook up his dilapidated laptop, (yes, everything we own is crap or broken) and watch the remainder of the movie that way.

This past week I'd been shopping around comparing tv's, LED vs LCD, the dimensions of our entertainment unit (we had to have something less than 36.5" wide), p's and Hertz and it took at least 3 visits to make sense of what was important, what we could live with and what we needed. So I finally narrowed it down to one and started pressing the guy on price. It was $799 on sale for $748 but I wasn't ready to pay the price on the sticker. I h

ad a feeling I could do better. The guy was anxious for me to take it home and resisted giving me info to take with me, preferring to close the deal. He offered to take it down to $728 but that didn't seem like a huge concession so I insisted he write down the models & prices of the two I was considering.

When I got home we scoured the online ads for stores in our area and found that Sears had the same model advertised at $679, ha! I phoned to check in store availability but they didn't have any. I figured the guy at the other store probably didn't know that & phoned him back. Murray was willing to go back in and pick it up but the store closed and the guy never returned our call. We dropped in today and showed them which model we were planning to buy and asked if they had any price match options and they did! Welcome to the world of widescreen baby!

For Rick: 37" 1080p 60Hz LED

All I Want For Christmas......

is a whole tv screen! our wedding present TV from 1998 is slowly dying. It constantly has a fuzzy bar at the top of the screen but that's been going on for awhile and isn't too bad since you can still make out the picture everywhere else clearly and the fuzzy section isn't totally snowy so that part is still mostly visible.

However the latest development is more troubling. Occasionally, the screen goes completely black except in one central horizontal strip. Usually it goes back to normal if we power off for a few seconds but I think it's a sign that our tv isn't long for this world!

Whew! Redeemed Ourselves!!

Well, as much as we could anyway! I insisted Shirley come back for another meal and luckily she was still speaking to us and agreed. She was here Tuesday night, trying to convince us that she'd already had a real meal but we weren't buying it! No one in their right mind reheats a dinner in the microwave and considers that a proper job of hostessing! "oh good! you're here for dinner! I've been saving a choice selection of unwanted portions from our meals this week for you to choose from, come on in and take your pick of our dinner rejects!!!! It's the latest in entertaining fads! You're the first to try it, tell all your friends!!!!"

Thank you Shirley for being so gracious about my latest social blunder and humouring us by coming back! We hope you enjoyed our instant replay of dinner invitations.

For the record, we had classy chicken with oven baked potatoes, some fresh cantaloupe and a Toblerone caramel cheesecake for dessert AND sent her home with a doggie bag! (it's totally OK to reheat leftovers the day AFTER being invited to dinner)

The Dinner of Shame!

Now I know we all make mistakes. Oversights happen, things get misplaced etc. I think (and I hope!) I had the WORST case of forgetfulness EVER yesterday. Have you ever had that dream where you are at school and it's the day of the big exam and you completely forgot to study for it? The panic that hits is overwhelming, the fear of failure is immense. So that's how I felt when the front door opened last night at 5pm and in walked our invited dinner guest, Shirley. We'd been so caught up in our fire fest that the fact that I'd phoned Shirley up last week and invited her for supper, marked it on the calendar, included it in the week's menu planning and bought the groceries for the meal, inexplicably and unforgivably slipped my mind.

It was the most horrendous feeling of shame! Not only had I not prepared a thing, I had NOTHING I could make a meal out of on such short notice. All meat was frozen, no casseroles were on hand to microwave and NO dessert baked. I ALWAYS have a good dessert when someone's coming over. The kids were greeting her and chatting as I raced back and forth in full panic mode, freezer, pantry, fridge.... I'd already started re-heating plates of leftovers for the kids & Murray & myself. There was NOTHING I could do to pretty this up. I did find some meatballs in the freezer. I dumped those in a pot, threw some bottled sauce on them & slammed them into the microwave. Then I threw some butter in another pot & melted that on the stove and made the world's fastest batch of chocolate sauce. So I had 2 plates of corned beef and cabbage (Murray & Shirley), 2 plates of pork stir fry (Honey & Lovey) and slowly defrosting & reheating meatballs and some leftover rice from the stir fry for me. Sweetie wasn't interested in any of the meals until the end when all the pork was gone.

God love Shirley. She didn't bat an eye or question why the heck I was serving 3 different REHEATED meals for supper. All perfectly normal right? omigosh. The extent of humiliation was incredible. I sat down and came out with "uh, we're just sort of having an assortment tonight!" and left it at that for fear she'd run away if she found out what I'd done! During the frantic rummaging, I'd noticed I still had some whip cream left from the Angel Lush Pineapple Cake the other day (expired angel food cake had to be used right away so I couldn't save it for Thursday's supper). There were also some bananas on the counter and maraschino cherries in the fridge! We weren't having "nothing" for dessert, I was serving banana splits! That HAD to be planned right? No one just pulls that out of thin air!

At the end of the meal I fessed up and told her this wasn't really her dinner and promised a repeat invite with an upgraded menu! She was a trooper and said she had no idea and thought I must have been cooking all day to have so many options for the meal!

After dinner Lovey played for her and she gave the kids advent calendars that have messages behind the daily window. They're excited to check them out and get started on December 1!

Burning Up!

We tend to accumulate a fair amount of debris around here. A fence falls apart, a construction project's remnants, packaging and who knows where else this stuff comes from! We sometimes save it up til we have a truckload and then hire someone to come haul our load of crap away. This time I noticed most of it was wood, the old steps, the pickets from the fence. Why pay to send that to the dump when we have a perfectly good firepit???? So we fired that sucker up and spent the afternoon slowly burning small piles at a time. We had a lot of rain earlier in the week so the yard was still pretty damp and the kids enjoyed helping. Murray wasn't so sure about letting them have "fire sticks" as he put it but no one lost an eye or got singed so I consider it successful family togetherness!

They got their work gloves on to help haul the boards to the backyard and we tended the fire (and closely monitored firestick usage). They were hoping to roast some sort of treat but we were out of hotdogs and it was getting close to supper so marshmallows wouldn't have been a good idea.

It took hours but we got rid of a huge pile of wood scraps (no shims were injured Dad, don't worry!)

Lost Our Marbles!

Honey wanted to play marbles today. We've never actually played a game outside, where you use your heel and twist in a circle and make the "pot" (wow, just realized how long since I did THAT!) and try to sink your marbles before the other players do. I can't even remember all the rules or values (crocks worth more, crystals higher rank than beauts and catseyes.... that's about it).

She didn't let that stop her and invented her own game instead. She set up a box lid, a toilet paper tube and extra marbles as obstacles. We each got 4 marbles and the object was to shoot your marbles through the obstacles or around them, and up the tube and into the box. First person to get all their marbles in the box won. She & I started playing before Murray got home from work. If you bumped your marble into one of the obstacles, it had to go back to the start. If your marble was bumped by someone else, you had to go back to the start. Getting up the tube was tricky because she'd parked a crock right in front of it!

Murray got home & immediately got invited into the game. He plops done, shoots his first marble directly through all the obstacles and gets a hole in one. I was so disgusted!!!!!!! Just for effect, I hollered, "I'm so mad, I'm going to pee!" and left for the bathroom. The girls almost died of laughter. Bathroom humour is incredibly popular with them right now. I thought we'd be skipping that since they're such girly girls but nope. They're giving it with the best of them and wildly amuse themselves frequently with tales and antics involving said subject matter. They get themselves laughing so hard that they're doubled over and unable to speak!

Mystery Parcel....

A strange package was waiting in the mailbox today when I got home from the gym! I pulled it out, wondering what I'd gotten. Turns out: nothin'! It was for the girls but I didn't recognize the return address. Strange but probably not explosive..... I checked with Murray, he hadn't sent anything. The girls got home and whipped through the homework to be able to get into that envelope. Mystery: NOT solved! It was ordered from Future Shop but no info on the purchaser. So to whoever felt we needed our own copy of Popeye, starring Robin Williams, thank you, they can't wait to watch it (we didn't have time today!)

Lullaby Time

Lovey was practicing her violin the other night when she noticed that she'd done such a good job that Murray had fallen asleep! She was sooooo happy about that and wanted to try it again tonight. I thought he was faking just to please her but he was pretty tired and conked out somewhere around the 10th run of Twinkle Twinkle. She was very proud of herself and enjoyed it so much that she played the song over and over again for at least 10 minutes straight. I thought she'd get tired of it but she kept on going, and going, and going....

Happy Birthday Murphy Baby!!!!!!

Yes, our first born turned 12 today or 84 in dog years! He got a song & cake and the whole works! As you can see, he had a blast at his party!

Family Movie Night--- CANCELLED!!!!

What a bunch! Saturday supper was wild. too wild. Even wilder than usual around here (and THAT'S saying something!!!). They weren't interested in what we were having, sautéed squid on a bed of liverwurst shavings with a side order of pickled cow's tongue. Ok, it wasn't nearly that bad but you'd have thought that's what they saw when I gave them their plate of oven roasted potato, Tbone steak and fresh steamed broccoli. Sweetie managed a bit of potato and some broccoli, Honey tried some of that as well. Lovey couldn't bear to touch any of it. The piece of meat I gave them fit on my baby fingernail!

Skipping Saturday night supper means you don't get dessert AND you don't get to pick a snack for the movie. Surely you could choke down a microbite of meat for that ???? Nope. and then they started falling out of their chairs, and hollering and dancing around and up and down, wandering around the kitchen etc. I asked them to sit down while we ate and suggested that they might not get movie night if they didn't settle down. Murray told them to sit down. They were disinclined to acquiesce to our requests. Murray was losing patience, they were getting louder, rowdier and frankly, quite annoying. Finally he yelled at them to sit properly. I'm pretty sure I'd have fingers leftover if I used them to count the number of times I've heard Murray yell (me? oh there aren't enough fingers and toes in the world to count my explosions!) at them. They were able to behave for about 10 seconds and then took the ridiculousness to even greater heights. Murray looked at them and told them movie night was cancelled. The wailing and caterwauling that ensued was an incredible display of waterworks. Disappointed doesn't even come close to describing it, devastated might be more appropriate (well as a description, not as a reaction). Murray felt soooooooooooo guilty but we thought it was best to stand our ground and stick with the decision, despite the fact that the movie had already been picked out, paid for & brought home. Lovey was the most upset since it was her week to pick and she would have to miss it.

The grief party lasted for awhile but I think we made our point. They realized they'd gone too far. Murray & I hated giving up movie night but throwing away that $2.99 (and it kills me to waste even THAT!) may have been a very good investment. Honey came out and apologized and Sweetie dressed up in a goofy outfit to try and make us laugh and lighten the mood. She knew they'd pushed it this time. She cracked me up but wouldn't let me get a picture so Lovey went back & put everything on the way she'd had it so I could show the blogfans.

The next day Sweetie was wiggly in her chair again, tipped it over and it made a cracking sound. Immediately I confiscated the chair & told her she'd have to stand at the table for the rest of the meal and all of Monday's. She wasn't very impressed and she didn't enjoy the stand up treatment yesterday but sat nicely at breakfast this morning!

Favour!

A friend of mine is trying to win a spot in this fantastic workshop and needs more votes! There's nothing to form or registration required and you don't have to sign up for an email list or anything.

Just go to

http://www.impulsephotographyblog.com/?p=3653

go to the poll at the bottom, select #8 and hit vote and you're done!

She's an awesome lady and the workshop is $1600 which she just can't swing right now. She worked really hard on her entry & it is cuuuuuuuuuuute!

Thanks everybody!

Here comes the Weekend!

I had errands to run today so I did them at the end of the day when the girls would be getting out of school so I could pick them up. They weren't as excited as I thought! Lovey clarified it for me when I mentioned they were usually happy to get picked up. "I am, WHEN we're going somewhere fun!" Note to self: don't bother next time!

We got home and baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies & then they moved on to their very important work of demolishing the living room and hiding all carpeting by spreading out their coating of pet shops, barbies and polly pocket paraphernalia!

Tonight was Fatty Fried Food Friday (what do you mean that's not a real event? it is here!) so in keeping with that theme, we had fish & chips. Sweetie normally eats well, asks for extra vegetables, finishes her food on her plate etc. It cracks me up that she looooooooooooooooooves French Fries. and not just any fries, they have to be done in "the greaser" aka deep fryer. Oven baked fries get sneered at. She will eat them until she blows up and then come back & lick out the pan for any crumbs and salt remainders! Honey's not a fish & chip fan and since it's just junk food anyway, I let them opt out of FFFF if they would rather have a sandwich so she was happy with her pb & J. Lovey for some unknown reason, WILL eat fish & chips, probably due in large part to their bath in the greaser. I pretend that the fish has some redeeming characteristics left after the cooking process and consider it a successful meal for her!

After supper, Murray took Honey to see a hockey game. She's been looking forward to it all week and was very excited to go out on her own with Daddy! They got home almost 2 hrs past her normal bedtime so we'll see how that affects tomorrow's disposition (I'm guessing it won't be overly favourable.....). She was very good tonight & got ready quickly & slipped into bed without any hesitation.

Murray said she really enjoyed the game but had 10 MILLION questions! I think this just pleased him more than it annoyed. Finally, a girl around here who takes an interest in THE game! Also of great interest to her & frequently inquired upon during play:

1) How many minutes PAST my bedtime is it NOW Daddy?

2) are my sisters in bed YET???

While they were gone, Lovey, Sweetie and I worked on puzzles. I challenged them to a puzzle race and made the mistake of choosing some dinky puzzle with weird pieces and waaaaaaaay too many of them! Sweetie kicked my butt but I was gaining on Lovey when I ran out of pieces and started looking around the floor and chairs. When I heard Lovey giggling, I knew something was up. Sweetie jumped in to investigate and sure enough, that little sneak had my last TWO pieces clutched in her little hand! They roared and roared as I ranted & raved about the sabotage and unfairness of cheating at PUZZLES!!!!!!! Then they got carried away and dismantled what I had managed to put together. Ahhhh good times!

Who Needs Friends?

When you can make your own pal out of a pair of colourful gloves???

Meet our newest buddy, Madeleine. She goes everywhere, plays with everyone and chats up a storm with the girls. They're enthralled with her lately. Yesterday I caught her trying to do Lovey's homework!

more Halloween action from Sunday night!

Tonight I was heading off to the gym and thought Lovey's intense concentration was priceless! They love their DS games!

Just sayin' ;)))

Honey's report card came home today. Careful you don't cut yourself, this kid is sharp! :)))

click on image to view larger cuz you're gonna want to see this :)))

Trick or Treat!

We had another fun Halloween night! Murray drove the kids down one end of the street while I finished getting our treats ready and whipped up the Halloween card to post. Mum & Dad came for supper so they could get in on the door to door action. Murray prepared a feast of a lasagna and everyone ate supper and dessert, even me ;)))

Once supper was out of the way, the girls threw their costumes on in a hurry. Lovey had a new one this year as her kitty cat was just too small so I picked one up earlier in the fall at our clothing sale. Honey & Sweetie just wanted to same ones again so everybody was happy & warm!

We ended up doing almost the whole street this year, a first for us. Lovey got tired before we were done though. Grandad was following in the car so she hopped in with him and got a ride for awhile and skipped a couple houses (she only missed out on popcorn so she didn't care!) At one house she was dragging herself up the driveway and was speaking in a low voice and told me "I'm tired from violin practice and my mouth is dry and my lips are dry!" Another place gave out apples and she told Grandad "just a plain old apple! we've already got THOSE at home!"

Tulip had stopped in just as we were heading out so she & her mom came along with us. Tulip, Honey & Sweetie were gung ho and raced from house to house as Lovey got more tired and lagged behind. Luckily her personal taxi helped her keep up. Grandad offered to take her home but she was very concerned about her sisters getting more treats than her. Instead, she tried to convince them to pack it in but they were determined to get to the top of the street where the house with candy apples is. They did get there and then got a "free ride!!!!!!!!!!!!" home with Grandad while the rest of the adults & dogs walked home. Lovey said that was the best part of the night!

We didn't have many kids so there are a few leftovers here but I think they'll be well taken care of!

Hope everyone had a great night!